The present invention generally relates to product selection in an electronic commerce system, and in particular relates to product selection assistance using a product database in combination with a dynamically updating product matrix.
Electronic transactions occurring on the Internet have quickly become an established method of doing business. The Word Wide Web allows consumers to purchase products online using Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator™ and Internet Explorer™. Consumers seeking to purchase products on the Web access a company's web site, view the product information, select a product listed, and submit billing information in order to complete the purchase.
In the past, however, web sites offering on-line purchasing allowed only rudimentary product selection capabilities. For example, some web sites simply provided a listing of product numbers that allowed consumers to select the specific product to purchase. Other web sites grouped products into categories based on functions (e.g., hair dryers) and provided a categorical list of all the relevant products from which to select.
In other words, the past product selection techniques were very inflexible and generally unconcerned about what features, if any, a particular consumer found most important. With manufacturers offering so many permutations of product, features, color, and the like, the consumer was often presented with an overwhelming list of choices. In many cases, only simple hit or miss searching was available to guide the consumer to an appropriate product for purchase. Thus, past product selection systems were generally unable to focus the consumer on the product most desired, and thus did not generate as much on-line sales revenue as might otherwise have been obtained.
A need has long existed for a product selection assistance system that overcomes the problems noted above and other previously experienced.